Christmas Caroling, Snow, and Hot Cocoa: Part 1
by Jasmine Scarthing
Summary: Annie is excited about Christmas with presents, family, and friends. But it's Christmas Eve. How will Annie spend the one day between her and December 25th? Read to find out! Rated T for cursing. A Christmas Eve one shot.


**A/N: Hey, folks! Christmas spirit is in the air! So I got the perfect idea for an Christmas Eve fic. **

**This fi****c was written for Lasgalendil, a great helper :)**

**Catgirl Begins is on temporary hiatus. I'm doing a lot of editing, so I might not update it for a while.**

**But to keep my readers happy and test out my idea, here's a Christmas Eve oneshot! Enjoy!**

* * *

Annie's POV

"Christmas, Christmas, it'll soon be here! Oh, how I wonder what I'll do this year!" I sing, skipping around my house with a Santa hat on my head. Christmas is coming soon! I can hardly wait!

It's Saturday, Christmas Eve, and I've done all my homework. All that's left to do now is have fun.

I pull on my warmest jacket, my favorite pink gloves, and my boots. I can't wait to play in the snow!

"Mom! Dad!" I call. "May I go play outside in the snow?"

"We three will go!" Mom and Dad call back. Ever since my..._eventful_...summer, Mom and Dad have been paranoid about me going out alone.

"Okay!" I call, and the three of us run outside.

Mom and I jump into the cold, white snow as if it's a leaf pile, laughing hysterically. Dad yells for us to stay put and runs to get his sled from 1972.

I see Barbara Gordon and her little brother making a big snowman.

"Okay, one, two, three. Heave!" Barb orders, and she and James push the last snowball onto the snowman. James obediently pushes a carrot into it for the nose and puts a classic top hat on its head.

Commissioner Gordon takes a picture, and they all crack up.

"Mom! Can we make a snowman?" I ask eagerly.

"Sure, sweetie! Right after our sled ride," Mom smiles.

"Sled ride? Yay!" I exclaim.

* * *

My parents and I walk to a nearby hill that's perfect for sledding.

On the hill, Mom and I sit in the sled, giggling with excitement.

"Okay, girls! Ready, set, go!" Dad calls, and pushes the sled down the hill, jumping on with us after a few seconds.

"Woohoo!" I scream in delight. Sledding is freaking awesome! The thrill, the adventure, and being with Mom and Dad-what more could I want?

We go again and again, and then we go back home and start making a snowman.

"Mom, did you ever make snowmen?" I ask.

"I sure did!" she laughs. "My friends and I would always make snowmen in the winter, even when we were seniors in high school!"

At last, we push the head onto our snowman. I get an idea and go inside the house.

I grab lots of red yarn and two blue-green buttons. Running outside, I stick them on our snowman's head. It's Barbara Gordon!

"Barb! Come see!" I call to her.

Barb rushes over and grins.

"It's great, Annie!" she says. "You actually bothered to get my eye color right. You're the best." She hugs me.

"You are too," I say, hugging her back.

We've gone inside, and I'm preparing hot cocoa on the stove for the three of us when I hear singing outside my door. I turn off the cocoa, pour it into cups, and rush over and fling the door open to see...Bruce Wayne, Selina Kyle, and Alfred Pennyworth?

"Hey!" I greet them, pleasantly surprised. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We're Christmas caroling," says Bruce pleasantly. "Want to join us, Annie?" Bruce actually looks happy, unlike his usual brooding, revenge-obsessed self. I suppose even selfless vigilantes have fun on Christmas Eve.

"We would be delighted to have you," Alfred smiles.

"You better behave yourself if you want to join us," Selina mutters, but her eyes are shining. Even she's having fun on Christmas Eve.

"I will!" I exclaim. "Mom, Dad, can I go?"

"Well, you all seem to know each other, so I guess you can," says Dad.

"Make Barbara Gordon come! She can watch Annie," says Mom.

"Sure thing, but I'm a good babysitter, Miss..." Selina replies.

"Gaylewood," Mom says.

"Right," Selina corrects herself, and we're off.

* * *

We see Barbara, and I tell her all about our caroling. Sure enough, she happily comes with us.

We stop at someone's house and burst into 'Jingle Bell Rock'. Bruce and Barbara actually have great voices! Even Alfred is singing.

The door opens, and a smiling old lady peeks out. "Wonderful singing! Hello there!" she grins, and holds out a bucket of candy.

"Thank you," Bruce says, and grabs a handful of chocolate bars. Ah, men. They've never met a chocolate bar they disliked.

Unlike me. I've met many chocolate things I despise, and very, very few that I don't.

In a nutshell, I really don't like chocolate.

Luckily, there are lots of Skittles packs in there, and I grab a couple. Barb refuses to take any, saying that candy is fattening, but discreetly grabs a chocolate candy bar anyway.

Selina takes three chocolate bars, and Alfred politely takes a candy cane.

"Merry Christmas!" the nice old lady says as we leave.

"Same to you, ma'am!" I call to her.

We run to the next house and clear our throats to get ready to sing.

"One, two, three!" Alfred counts down.

We start to sing 'Deck the Halls', with Alfred 'conducting'. I smile as I sing. Having fun singing and getting candy to boot? I was born for this job!

The door opens, and Stephanie from drama class in June comes out. "Hi there! You guys are really talented!" she praises us. "Here, have some candy canes."

We each take one. I nibble mine. It's good!

We thank Stephanie and leave. We go to another house.

As we stand in front of it, I ask, "Can we do Jingle Bells?"

"Sure!" everyone answers. We burst into "Jingle Bells" with Alfred conducting as usual.

A guy who looks about twenty-three opens the door. "Hey, Christmas carolers!" he smiles, and holds out a basket. "You guys are so awesome, you can have these homemade snickerdoodles! Help yourselves!" Everybody takes a snickerdoodle.

I grab two and take a bite of one. It's great! Cinnamony, sweet, and the perfect texture. Snickerdoodles are my new favorite cookie. I secretly grab one more.

The guy laughs. "Looks like my cookies are a hit! I'm running out! Gotta go, and merry Christmas!"

We sing at a couple other houses and then decide to call it quits, all tired out. But we've had a lot of fun caroling.

"That was awesome!" I pant. "I'm so being a caroler next Halloween, and in Christmas tomorrow!"

"I agree," Barbara laughs. "I was having so much fun, I forgot to worry about eating healthy!"

"Damn right," Selina pipes up, munching on her candy bar. "Christmas spirit is so infectious, it makes germs look harmless."

Bruce and I laugh at Selina's humorous one-liner.

Alfred shivers. "I am feeling a little chilly," he says. "Master Bruce, hot cocoa?"

"Wait! I can make hot cocoa for you guys!" I exclaim.

"Sounds great. Come on, everybody," Bruce orders-sort of, and we all walk to my house.

* * *

I boil milk and add hot chocolate mix. Eager to warm up after all that time outside in the cold, I get out whipped cream, marshmallows, and cinnamon, my favorite hot chocolate toppings. I set them on the table.

Mom and Dad are talking to Bruce excitedly, trying to make him comfortable. Alfred is, presumably out of habit, dusting our TV screen. Selina is trying to stay hidden and eating her candy bar.

I inhale the sweet smell of hot cocoa, smiling. Hot cocoa is one of the very few chocolate things I like.

When it's done, I pour it in cups and set them on the table where everyone's sitting.

"Here you go, hot cocoa! Hey, that rhymes," I giggle slightly. "There's marshmallows, whipped cream, and cinnamon for toppings."

Alfred takes two marshmallows and sips his hot cocoa.

"Big girls like cinnamon," Selina advises me, and takes some. I do the same. I stir it in with my spoon, and squirt whipped cream on top. Then I put a teeny bit more cinnamon on and two marshmallows.

Bruce takes cinnamon and a marshmallow, and Barb just takes cinnamon.

We drink hot cocoa and talk and laugh, and I think, _this is the best Christmas Eve ever._

* * *

**A/N: Yay, Christmas Eve! Well, it's not even close to here yet, but Christmas spirit is still in the air! **

**Thanks to all my readers for, well, reading this! **

**Happy holidays to everybody!**


End file.
